This is what taking action has done for me (so far)!

[Andy Daniels]

I have a wantrepreneur friend who is basically addicted to posting really pointless shit on Instagram, and it makes him look like such a douchebag. He just sits around all day and makes it look like this mega-successful god of an entrepreneur, when the real secret is he's just mentally masturbating. Yikes. (I'm actually going to trade in my iPhone for a cheaper flip phone to delete these bullshit distractions from my life).

When I see this kind of action-faking out there, I get pretty introspective, and take a look at what I've done, and I make a promise to myself to never be like that. TIME FOR REAL ACTION.

I read the brilliant thread by @Fox which you all can find right here, about starting a web design company. This turned on a huge light bulb over my head because I know so many companies and individuals with shitty websites, that really need to be re-done.

1. I took the Udemy course on working with HTML and CSS twice so I really understood it
2. Everyday I practice practice practice with the concepts and get more comfortable with it
3. I reached out to a friend with a small business, offered to build her a site for free, I am meeting with her tomorrow to discuss design, and goals for the site
4. I wrote down all my Fastlane goals and set them all to get done ASAP (thank you @V8Bill )
5. I am drafting a letter to send to my friends/family explaining that I will be putting 100% into my business, if they are with me, great. If not, I'm pressing on anyway. Nothing can stop me.

This may not seem like much, but so far I have achieved more than I ever thought possible just because I shifted my mindset and exercised discipline with my life. I developed healthier habits, I've been saving more money, I've been spending nights inside regurgitating code while my friends were out drinking at the bar. In the end, it all comes down to your why. WHY do you want to succeed? For me, I have vivid images and visions about where I want to be, and I will stop at nothing to achieve that.

Truly, I've never been more uncomfortable and unsatisfied with my current life. I won't be fully satisfied until I've achieved my dream lifestyle. But you can't achieve that by sitting around. I have to bust my balls right now so I can sit back and relax later on. I am so happy I found TMF and UNSCRIPTED . I want to thank @MJ DeMarco @Fox @SinisterLex @Andy Black @Vigilante and all the fellow fastlaners that have kept me aligned to the unscripted life.

Now I gotta go, I have a website to build. I'll post more progress later on!

-A

 

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[wade1mil]

I don't want to rain on your parade because it looks like you're moving in the right direction, but the five things you have listed are also mental masturbation. While you do have to start somewhere, 1-2 are borderline procrastination and 3-5 are nothing. Watching videos, reaching out, writing down, etc. are all action fakes. Closing deals (getting money for a website you built) is taking action. While I understand your point about your friend, don't get cocky about what you've done. It's really not much. Go actually take action and close some deals.

 

[Fox]

I have a wantrepreneur friend who is basically addicted to posting really pointless shit on Instagram, and it makes him look like such a douchebag. He just sits around all day and makes it look like this mega-successful god of an entrepreneur, when the real secret is he's just mentally masturbating. Yikes. (I'm actually going to trade in my iPhone for a cheaper flip phone to delete these bullshit distractions from my life).

When I see this kind of action-faking out there, I get pretty introspective, and take a look at what I've done, and I make a promise to myself to never be like that. TIME FOR REAL ACTION.

I read the brilliant thread by @Fox which you all can find right here, about starting a web design company. This turned on a huge light bulb over my head because I know so many companies and individuals with shitty websites, that really need to be re-done.

1. I took the Udemy course on working with HTML and CSS twice so I really understood it
2. Everyday I practice practice practice with the concepts and get more comfortable with it
3. I reached out to a friend with a small business, offered to build her a site for free, I am meeting with her tomorrow to discuss design, and goals for the site
4. I wrote down all my Fastlane goals and set them all to get done ASAP (thank you @V8Bill )
5. I am drafting a letter to send to my friends/family explaining that I will be putting 100% into my business, if they are with me, great. If not, I'm pressing on anyway. Nothing can stop me.

This may not seem like much, but so far I have achieved more than I ever thought possible just because I shifted my mindset and exercised discipline with my life. I developed healthier habits, I've been saving more money, I've been spending nights inside regurgitating code while my friends were out drinking at the bar. In the end, it all comes down to your why. WHY do you want to succeed? For me, I have vivid images and visions about where I want to be, and I will stop at nothing to achieve that.

Truly, I've never been more uncomfortable and unsatisfied with my current life. I won't be fully satisfied until I've achieved my dream lifestyle. But you can't achieve that by sitting around. I have to bust my balls right now so I can sit back and relax later on. I am so happy I found TMF and UNSCRIPTED . I want to thank @MJ DeMarco @Fox @SinisterLex @Andy Black @Vigilante and all the fellow fastlaners that have kept me aligned to the unscripted life.

Now I gotta go, I have a website to build. I'll post more progress later on!

-A

Great Andy. Glad I could help. Keep checking out the other Gold threads as there are lots of areas you can link in with web design like copywriting, ecommerce, software, adwords etc.

Post on the coding thread if you need help (and tag me).

 

[Andy Daniels]

I don't want to rain on your parade because it looks like you're moving in the right direction, but the five things you have listed are also mental masturbation. While you do have to start somewhere, 1-2 are borderline procrastination and 3-5 are nothing. Watching videos, reaching out, writing down, etc. are all action fakes. Closing deals (getting money for a website you built) is taking action. While I understand your point about your friend, don't get cocky about what you've done. It's really not much. Go actually take action and close some deals.

I appreciate the feedback. I am still pretty new, so I appreciate any advice. Sales are next, that's for sure

 

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[JAJT]

• I took the Udemy course on working with HTML and CSS twice so I really understood it

Cool.

• Everyday I practice practice practice with the concepts and get more comfortable with it

Implement the concepts to understand them better. Solve as you go.

• I reached out to a friend with a small business, offered to build her a site for free, I am meeting with her tomorrow to discuss design, and goals for the site

Get that first sale!

• I wrote down all my Fastlane goals and set them all to get done ASAP (thank you @V8Bill )

What are they?

1. I am drafting a letter to send to my friends/family explaining that I will be putting 100% into my business, if they are with me, great. If not, I'm pressing on anyway. Nothing can stop me.

Why do this? Why does it matter what your friends and family think about your business efforts? Why do they need to be informed?

Just go get some sales and deliver for your customers. People will catch on as you start saying "no, I have to work, maybe next time" more and more often.

 

[InspireHD]

I understand the excitement is there in starting and you want to tell everyone that you're making a breakthrough, but I would highly advise against sending out letters. It's not necessary.

Stay humble and let your actions do the talking.

 

[Andy Black]

No need for letters.

Just do it.

 

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[lowtek]

Agreed, don't bother with sending out letters to people. Your attitude is spot on, just gotta keep the action oriented focus.

As you get more successful, the haters will eventually drop away. Your true friends and family will stick around. In other words, people are going to naturally filter themselves, so don't draw attention by trying to force the issue.

Best of luck!

 

[Andy Daniels]

Thanks all, I appreciate it

 

[The-J]

I reached out to a friend with a small business, offered to build her a site for free, I am meeting with her tomorrow to discuss design, and goals for the site

This is what will tip the scales for you.

Reach out to people. Offer them websites, either for free or for money. I think you have one free thing down, you don't need to offer more free things.

FOCUS ON THIS. Yes it's scary but it's worth it. There's value in doing shit that scares you.

F*ck the letters. Actually, no: write the letter, but to yourself. Then print it on the wall. Or, write the letter and send it to yourself to be received in 1 year. Your family and friends don't wanna hear bold declarations.

While you learn, BUILD. The Udemy courses will suck a lot of your time when you could just start with a simple template shell (or Wordpress) and go on W3 schools to learn how to manipulate it. Not saying to not do the Udemy courses, just don't confuse that for WORK.

I see you've taken action but maybe you've taken less action than you've thought. But that's okay because you've still taken some. Rep+

 

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[Andy Daniels]

This is what will tip the scales for you.

Reach out to people. Offer them websites, either for free or for money. I think you have one free thing down, you don't need to offer more free things.

FOCUS ON THIS. Yes it's scary but it's worth it. There's value in doing shit that scares you.

F*ck the letters. Actually, no: write the letter, but to yourself. Then print it on the wall. Or, write the letter and send it to yourself to be received in 1 year. Your family and friends don't wanna hear bold declarations.

While you learn, BUILD. The Udemy courses will suck a lot of your time when you could just start with a simple template shell (or Wordpress) and go on W3 schools to learn how to manipulate it. Not saying to not do the Udemy courses, just don't confuse that for WORK.

I see you've taken action but maybe you've taken less action than you've thought. But that's okay because you've still taken some. Rep+

I'm definitely going to focus on reaching out to potential clients, offering them my services for discounts, (half price to build my portfolio etc.) Yea everyone is right about the letter, I have nothing to prove to other people, just myself. Thanks so much @The-J

 

[JAJT]

I'm definitely going to focus on reaching out to potential clients, offering them my services for discounts, (half price to build my portfolio etc.)

Fox probably knows better but I'd be worried about this approach.

Companies rarely like hearing "I'm cheap because I'm new and I want you to be one of my early successes".
They want to hear (in my experience) "I can fix that huge problem you have for a price that fits your budget".

No need to drop your pants on price or offer discounts or sales or any of that crap. That's consumer marketing, not business marketing.

If you want to discount on early clients, you do it like this:

"Normally we charge $2,500 and it takes about 3-4 weeks to complete but given that your website (as I see it) is pretty straightforward I wouldn't see a problem with doing it for $1,750, assuming you just want a cleaner, more functional look going into 2018. It would likely only take a week or so because of the straightforward scope as well. If you wanted to build out anything new, add new sections, or had any major overhauling it would likely fall back in the $2,500 range for the expanded scope and take about that 3-4 week mark I mentioned. Does that make sense?"

(Or whatever, I don't know web dev prices / timelines / etc)

The point is don't discount without a reason to. You want to meet their expectations on price and exceed it in delivery. Businesses have budgets. You want to fit in their budgets so they can spend them on you. Don't set off red flags by treating them like an amazon customer who wants to see 50% off and 100 reviews.

 

[dgr]

I don't want to rain on your parade because it looks like you're moving in the right direction, but the five things you have listed are also mental masturbation.

Totally agree with this. I've fallen soooo many times in this mental masturbation that seems action... The best advice I can give you, Andy, is to sell first and figure out how to make it later.

You are trying to get all this new stuff into place, because you need to have absolute control about what you can do. That's probably why you have repeated the Udemy course. Great if you want to be the best developer employee.

But, you know what? Once you start it for real, you'll be exposed to the real learning, and you will learn the things you really need. It's great to follow a course, but a lot of the stuff you were doing there will be useless later on.

Because maybe your clients don't need it that way. If you have a hammer, everything seems nails. So learn the basics and go for the real lessons, adapting your knowledge to the things your customers need.

There iss a great inspiration in taking real action and learning in the way in this thread: GOLD - Getting Rid of Cold Calling Anxiety Using Brute Force

Companies rarely like hearing "I'm cheap because I'm new and I want you to be one of my early successes".
They want to hear (in my experience) "I can fix that huge problem you have for a price that fits your budget".

No need to drop your pants on price or offer discounts or sales or any of that crap. That's consumer marketing, not business marketing.

Nice point! It makes a lot of sense to me, thanks so much!

 

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[Andy Daniels]

*UPDATE*

I am a little over halfway done designing my friend's small business website. It's looking great. I've sent her screenshots of the progress and she is totally stoked. It feels good to know you're doing a good job.

I made a pretty warm lead during a conversation at a brewery. Some folks who have their own Pilates studio want me to critique their webpage and offer suggestions. I personally think it looks damn good, but I did notice some responsiveness/dead button issues. I'm still going to email them project samples of work I've done, as well as critique for their site. Nice folks, and their daughter does copywriting for a living. Hmmm, sounds like I need to make a new friend

Thanks all!